Hallmark Stars Who Admit To Getting Cosmetic Procedures
Much like the network's set directors, actors who star in Hallmark movies likely feel obligated to help ensure that everything viewers see on their TVs is a flawless fantasy. Some Hallmark stars have even undergone cosmetic procedures in hopes of looking more youthful and attractive. However, Hallmark isn't solely to blame for fueling the urge to have a forehead as smooth as a gleaming snowglobe — to have work done or not is a decision anyone working in Hollywood has to fret over.
Because it's become so common for actors to get plastic surgery and injectables, a few Hallmark stars have had to deny altering their appearances with cosmetic procedures. In 2023, Hunter King, whose Hallmark credits include "The Santa Summit" and "A Royal Corgi Christmas," responded to speculation that she had lip fillers in a post on her Instagram Story. "No, I don't have any lip filler, but even if I did, I don't think that people should feel so comfortable commenting such rude things about people's appearance," she said. When "Never Been Chris'd" star Janel Parrish denied similar rumors in 2019, she tweeted a baby photo to prove that she's always had full lips. And in a 2023 interview with The Guardian, "Christmas in Conway" actor Mary-Louise Parker explained why she's against using Botox, saying, "If I can't move my forehead, there's so many things you can't convey."
Other Hallmark actors are Botox fans, and it's not the only cosmetic procedure the network's stars have experimented with.
Jana Kramer posed topless to show off her implants
Some celebrities wait until after they've fully recovered to let their fans know that they've gone under the knife, but "Love at First Bark" star Jana Kramer decided to give her Instagram followers a heads up before she underwent a breast augmentation procedure in 2021. In a way, she was ripping the Band-Aid off — she admitted that she was fearful of how people would react. Every celeb seems to attract a faction of social media users who are extra judgmental, so her decision gave them plenty of time to tire themselves out ranting before she revealed the results of her surgery.
In addition to having implants put in, Kramer got a breast lift. She explained that she felt insecure about the way her breasts looked after having two kids, writing, "Things didn't go back to normal, and I carry a lot of embarrassment when I'm undressed. I don't want to feel that way anymore." Two months later, it was evident that her surgery had successfully boosted her confidence. She showed off her breast implants by posing for a topless photo, which she shared on Instagram. (She used her arm and hand to avoid running afoul of the platform's nudity policy, of course.)
In between her two posts about her surgery, Kramer announced that she was divorcing Mike Caussin. "This next chapter, this next me is free," she wrote in the caption of her post-op pic. "She's happy. Even by herself."
Barbara Niven is glad she's only used Botox
"Ms. Christmas Comes to Town" star Barbara Niven often gives her Instagram followers a glimpse behind the Hallmark glam. In her makeup-free selfies, she can be seen getting her roots touched up for "Chesapeake Shores," sporting dark undereye circles while eating breakfast, and rocking matching gold eye masks with her "Christmas in Evergreen" co-star Paul Greene. When it comes to her appearance, this isn't the only way Niven keeps it refreshingly real with her fans; she's also been honest about what work she has and hasn't done. In a 2016 interview with Media from the Heart, she confessed that she does use Botox judiciously. "Little bits, just because it is acting. It's just to soften things," she said.
Seeing the results of other actors' plastic surgery turned Niven off from wanting to try anything too invasive. "They don't look like real people," she explained. She also believes her career has benefitted from her avoiding cosmetic procedures that result in drastic changes. "If I'd done a lot of plastic surgery like I know a lot of people do — a lot of actresses in Hollywood do that and elsewhere as well — you can't play real people," she said. "If I had done that, how could I play everybody's mother?" Thanks to her choice, she has mothered quite the brood of on-screen children in her Hallmark projects; Candace Cameron Bure, Alison Sweeney, and Meghan Ory have all played her daughters.
Italia Ricci had a tummy tuck and boob job
After "Catch Me If You Claus" star Italia Ricci and "The Flash" star Robbie Amell welcomed their son in 2019, Ricci started working out but wasn't getting the results she wanted. On "The Mother Daze" podcast, she recalled learning that one of her issues was that she had diastasis recti, a condition caused by the abdominal muscles stretching during pregnancy so that a gap forms between them in the center of the stomach. This condition can create a bulge that resembles a pregnant belly. While performing certain exercises can help close the gap, Ricci saw the benefit of undergoing surgery to repair her abdominal muscles. "Since I was going in anyway, I was like, 'Can we get rid of the skin?' So I did a full tummy tuck," she said. "Because you could grab the skin on my sides and fold it over."
Ricci noticed another postpartum body change that she decided to do something about while she had a plastic surgeon at her disposal. She said that her breasts ballooned up during her pregnancy, and she was unhappy with their appearance after she stopped breastfeeding. "They just looked like kind of really, really, really sad pancakes," she said. So, she also underwent breast augmentation surgery, opting for small implants. "I know it's so superficial, but it gave me just a piece of myself back that I felt like I lost," she said.
Alexa PenaVega uses Botox and underwent a lip procedure
Alexa PenaVega, who co-stars alongside her hubby Carlos PenaVega in the Hallmark holiday movie "Enchanted Christmas," took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to deny speculation that she had a nose job in 2013. (She also insisted that she wasn't orchestrating the breakup of Carlos' boy band, Big Time Rush.) However, she has fessed up to using Botox. In a 2023 post on her Instagram Story, she revealed that she prefers to keep her skincare routine as natural as possible. However, there just isn't any topical product packed with botanical extracts and oils that can replicate Botox's wrinkle-erasing effect. "I do go and I get Botox because I feel better about my face after I get Botox," Alexa wrote.
PenaVega has undergone a procedure to change the appearance of her lips, too. While needles were also involved, she didn't get her pout pumped up a la Kylie Jenner. Instead, the "Christmas Made to Order" star gave her mouth a merry and bright makeover by having it tattooed. In 2021, she posted an Instagram video documenting her experience with "lip blushing," which left her smackers a Barbie-licious shade of pink. "I was warned it was super painful but honestly it didn't hurt at all," she wrote. "As you get older some people lose pigment in their lips. So I did this."
Eric Winter's disappointing reaction to Roselyn Sánchez's breast lift
Roselyn Sánchez and Eric Winter haven't just worked together as co-stars in the Hallmark movie "A Taste of Summer"; the spouses are also podcast co-hosts. In a 2023 episode of "He Said, Ella Dijo," they discussed the touchy topic of Sánchez's breast lift. According to Winter, he advised his wife against going under the knife, but at the time of their chat, Sánchez had been recovering from the procedure for a little over a week.
Sánchez complained that Winter's reaction to seeing the results of her surgery was as cold as ice. According to Sánchez, she was feeling pretty good about how amazing her implant-free lift looked after her bandages were removed, so she shot a pic of her breasts to Winter and asked if he was also happy with their appearance. "His response was, 'The question should be, are you happy?" Sánchez recalled. "Oh my god, I died." Winter did himself no favors when defending his reaction, and Sánchez even mused that his brutal honesty was possibly why she felt a bit blue after her surgery. "You just sent me a picture of Frankenstein boobs," Winter told his wife. (Yikes!) When Sánchez complained to her surgeon about her husband's reaction, the doc had to double as her therapist by reminding her that she got the surgery for herself — so her opinion really was the only one that mattered.
Dolly Parton will always love a good nip and tuck
"Christmas at Dollywood" star Dolly Parton is the glittering star that tops Hallmark's Christmas tree, thanks to her attraction to apparel that shimmers and sparkles. The country music icon has also openly admitted to being a big fan of plastic surgery. "If I see something sagging, bagging and dragging, I'm going to nip it, tuck it, and suck it," Parton told CBS News in 2004, explaining that she feels compelled to maintain a certain image as an entertainer. She did this in a very Dolly way. "I look at myself like a show horse, or a show dog," she said.
We don't know whether Botox and filler are prevalent in the show animal industry, but Parton revealed that they're an important part of her anti-aging arsenal on "The Howard Stern Show." And while the jovial performer might joke around about the work she's had done, she told Stern that going under the knife isn't something she takes lightly; she only goes to well-respected doctors and exercises caution when deciding which procedures to have done. "I try to do just little bits at a time — I don't do like really big stuff," Parton shared. She's especially concerned about tweaking her face, saying, "It changes your expressions. Even if the surgery itself is good, it changes your personality." But in her case, she seems to be doing an excellent job choosing doctors who don't smooth away her sweetness.